Question
My cat service animals for my mental state got out of my cousin's apartment, and they were gone for a while. They came back. The neighbor picked them up called animal control. I was in Portland for two months and I didn’t know what happened until I got home a week later that’s when I found out. I called five animal shelters where they were, this was three months later because I was looking for the one shelter that adopted them out. I want to reclaim them paperwork on them that I’m the owner service animal, veterinarian papers, and psychiatrist papers, and primary care papers. They are trained cats and if for my emotional support for my neuropathy. I’m desperate to get them back.
Virginia, USA
Answer
I am sorry to hear about your situation. People who believe that their animals were wrongfully rehomed and/or being wrongfully withheld can commence a civil lawsuit to try to get the animals returned.
Shelters are typically required to hold lost and stray dogs and cats for a few days to give the animals’ “parents” an opportunity to retrieve their animals. The number of days a shelter must hold animals varies throughout the country and sometimes even among municipalities within the same state. After an animal is rehomed, it becomes much more difficult to get the animal returned, in part because the shelter does not have the animal to return, and courts have been reluctant to order the release of adopters’ contact information. Also consider that when a person leaves his/her service animals for months, it may be difficult to convince a court that the animals are truly service animals.
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